Synopsis:Jaime and C. J. Fitzpatrick began their married life as most couples do–in love and looking forward to a bright future together. But four years later they’ve drifted apart and are almost ready to call it quits.

Mattie Riehl was hoping to give her husband Sol the Christmas gift they have both longed for–news that a baby was on the way. But as usual, she is disappointed. The holidays bring an acute awareness to Mattie that her dream of a big family isn’t likely to become a reality.

Then a winter storm raging outside blows the Fitzpatricks into the Riehl home–and into a much slower pace of life. Can these two couples from different worlds help each other understand the true meaning of love this Christmas?

Author Bio:Her interest in the Amish began with her grandfather, W.D. Benedict, who was raised Plain. Suzanne has a great admiration for the Plain people and believes they provide wonderful examples to the world. In both her fiction and non-fiction books, she has an underlying theme: You don’t have to “go Amish” to incorporate many of their principles–simplicity, living with less, appreciating nature, forgiving others more readily– into your life.

When Suzanne isn’t writing or bragging to her friends about her first new grandbaby (!), she is raising puppies for Guide Dogs for the Blind. To Suzanne’s way of thinking, you just can’t take life too seriously when a puppy is tearing through your house with someone’s underwear in its mouth. Suzanne can be found on-line at: www.suzannewoodsfisher.com.

My Review:I absolutely LOVE Suzanne Woods Fisher! She has been my favorite author for sometime now and I look forward to each and every novel she releases, both fiction and non-fiction. So, I was quite excited to have the opportunity to read this newest novel in her Lancaster County Secrets series.

Christmas. My favorite time of the year, both to experience and to read about! There’s just something about the miracle to The Baby and the smells and sights during the Holiday season. Reading about Christmas is always so fun. I lose myself so fully among the pages, nothing else matters, and the story comes to life for me.

In this particular novel, I got to visit friends, as well as meet new ones. Sol and Mattie. They were amazing characters and first introduced in Suzanne Woods Fisher’s The Choice. I fell in love with them then, and this novel only made me closer to them. Sol has been through a lot in his life(I won’t tell you what he went through in case you haven’t read The Choice-book 1 in the Lancaster County Secrets series), but through the power of God, he always embraces it and moves forward. Sweet Mattie. Wanting to please her husband, Sol, she is trying to give him more children, yet she can’t, when she experiences the awful heartache of a miscarriage. Watching these two embrace the miracle of the season, embrace each other and their son Danny, and embracing God to lead them through anything was powerful.

But, I would like to say that though Sol and Mattie will always be my favorite characters from Lancaster County Secrets, Jamie and CJ, Englishers who are on the brink of loosing each other, quickly became a part of my heart. Watching them, and their struggles, my heart just went out to them. Seeing them learn the power of forgiveness and the way Faith in God will move any mountain, was beautiful.

I definitely give this novel a high 5 Book rating. It’s the way to go, to start the holiday season off early! The sights of Lancaster County in the snow and winter, the sounds of the horse and buggies and the music, all of it will touch your heart and transport you to the heart of the story! Another home run from Ms. Fisher and I can’t wait for her new novels to be released! She is a seasoned Amish novelist and one who definitely knows how to keep her readers happy!

To celebrate the release of her first Christmas book, Suzanne Woods Fisher has teamed up with her publisher, Revell, to bring you the “Christmas in September” iPad Giveaway! The winner will be announced on 9/27 at the A Lancaster County Christmas Facebook Party! Details below. Tell your friends and join in the fun (9/7-9/27).

Oh and be sure to follow the blog tour here – many of the bloggers have copies of the book to giveaway!

Suzanne and Revell will be presenting one merry winner with a Christmas Prize Pack (valued at over $600):

A Brand New iPad 2 with Wi-Fi

$25 gift certificate to iTunes

A copy of A Lancaster County Christmas

To enter, click one of the icons below. But, hurry the giveaway ends on 9/26.

But, wait! There’s more! The winner will be announced at the A Lancaster County Christmas Facebook Party on 9/27 at Suzanne’s author page. During the party she’ll be revealing something *BIG* – you won’t want to miss it. She’ll also be hosting a book chat, trivia contest and giving away a few early Christmas presents! Hope to see you there.

The Giveaway:Thanks to the publisher, I have one copy of this book to giveaway in the US only. All entries MUST include an email address. Open to US residents only please. Giveaway ends September 20th@1159pmEST

Bonus entries (MUST BE IN SEPARATE COMMENTS):+2 Be or Become a follower of Reviews By Molly on Twitter+2 Be or Become a follower of Reviews By Molly on Facebook+3 Blog, Tweet, or Facebook about this giveaway and leave me a link (can be done once each day)+1 Grab my blog’s button and add it to your blog somewhere& leave me the link where I can find it :~)